The Walking Dead #86Review

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The survivors continue to rebuild their community.

By Jesse Schedeen

Spoilers within.

After an intense and prolonged story arc like "No Way Out," it's to be expected that Robert Kirkman would want some downtime for the series. It's important that the surviving cast members be able to regroup and take stock of their new status quo. That justifies the slow pace of the past two issues, but with issue #86 still doing very little to move the plot forward, Walking Dead is now becoming unusually and painfully stagnant.

Perhaps the problem lies with the fact that not much regrouping is really needed. The series' status quo hasn't changed nearly as much as did following the battle at Woodbury Prison or other watershed moments. The survivors still occupy their walled community, only now Rick's sudden burst of optimism is bringing hope to all. It's almost bizarre to see this change in Rick. He was a character spiraling ever closer into despair and insanity, and yet the near fatal shooting of his son seems to have the exact opposite effect one might expect. Whether this is all a coping mechanism or a true return to the smooth, confident Rick of yesteryear remains to be seen.

There are some nice moments of characterization to be had. Michonne is allowed to reflect on the passing of Morgan, showing a slightly more tender and sentimental side of her character. Other shifting alliances and friendships form the backbone of the issue. Andrea is even given a chance to play the badass as she instructs the greener members of the community in gun safety. Her scenes with Rick are somewhat less effective. Kirkman's dialogue is less effective the more his characters are allowed to ramble, and Rick is very much a rambler in this issue.

I was fairly disappointed with the quality of the art in the final issues of "No Way Out." Luckily, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn have put things back on track. There are still some instances where the ink wash could use more contrast, but at least the level of detail remains consistent throughout. And though this is very much a dialogue-heavy issue, Kirkman allows a handful of pages where the action and gunplay take precedent.

The storytelling has some flaws in this issue, but the real culprit is the glacially slow pace. Kirkman still hasn't appreciably moved the conflict along since the end of "No Way Out." Carl is still comatose, the survivors are still rebuilding, and the ongoing story direction remains very much in question. The series can't continue on like this without providing readers some idea of what lies in store for our heroes.